Statement on the conviction of Ilya Sachkov, co-founder of Group-IB

Group-IB, a global cybersecurity leader headquartered in Singapore, has today learned that Group-IB’s co-founder, Ilya Sachkov, has been convicted of treason and sentenced to 14 years in prison by a Moscow court following an unreasonably rushed trial that was held entirely behind closed doors. Ilya pleaded not guilty.

Ilya spent almost two years in pre-trial detention, awaiting a trial that only started on July 6th, 2023. During his detainment, he was denied the right to communicate — no calls, no letters — with the outside world for the first few months, he was deprived of any visits from family and friends. Ultimately, Ilya has been denied a chance for an impartial trial. All the materials of the case are kept classified, and all hearings were held in complete secrecy with no public scrutiny. As a result, we might never know the pretext for his conviction.

On April 20, 2023, Group-IB exited the Russian market. Nonetheless, Ilya will always be an integral and inseparable part of the Group-IB family. The entire Group-IB team is dismayed and disheartened by this brutal and unfair punishment. Cutting Ilya off from the outside world only serves to undermine the strength and stability of the global cybersecurity ecosystem. As the world finds itself enveloped in intense cyber warfare, as cybercrime in all its forms evolves and becomes more organized and efficient, an individual who has consistently and convincingly advocated for responsible behavior in the digital space and one who has devoted his entire life to fighting against digital crime is being sent to jail for 14 years.

Since day one, we have had full confidence in Ilya’s innocence. We are unwaveringly convinced that Ilya’s ideas and approach to cybersecurity have many followers worldwide, and they unite people and organizations across the globe. While he remains wrongfully imprisoned, we will continue to stand up against injustice and operate our business with the same mission in mind – to fight against cybercrime. This very mission was crafted by Ilya and has been at the heart of the company since it was founded in 2003.

We will continue to protect our customers, research and investigate cybercrime without fear. We will keep collaborating with law enforcement, sharing data with the cybersecurity community, and working towards disrupting the world’s most advanced threat actors.

We will continue to stand for what is right and just.

#FightAgainstCybercrime

Group-IB team

About Group-IB

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Singapore, Group-IB is a leading creator of cybersecurity technologies to investigate, prevent, and fight digital crime. Combating cybercrime is in the company’s DNA, shaping its technological capabilities to defend businesses, citizens, and support law enforcement operations.

Group-IB’s Digital Crime Resistance Centers (DCRCs) are located in the Middle East, Europe, Central Asia, and Asia-Pacific to help critically analyze and promptly mitigate regional and country-specific threats. These mission-critical units help Group-IB strengthen its contribution to global cybercrime prevention and continually expand its threat-hunting capabilities.

Group-IB’s decentralized and autonomous operational structure helps it offer tailored, comprehensive support services with a high level of expertise. We map and mitigate adversaries’ tactics in each region, delivering customized cybersecurity solutions tailored to risk profiles and requirements of various industries, including retail, healthcare, gambling, financial services, manufacturing, crypto, and more.

The company’s global security leaders work in synergy with some of the industry’s most advanced technologies to offer detection and response capabilities that eliminate cyber disruptions agilely.

Group-IB’s Unified Risk Platform (URP) underpins its conviction to build a secure and trusted cyber environment by utilizing intelligence-driven technology and agile expertise that completely detects and defends against all nuances of digital crime. The platform proactively protects organizations’ critical infrastructure from sophisticated attacks while continuously analyzing potentially dangerous behavior all over their network.

The comprehensive suite includes the world’s most trusted Threat Intelligence, The most complete Fraud Protection, AI-powered Digital Risk Protection, Multi-layered protection with Managed Extended Detection and Response (XDR), All-infrastructure Business Email Protection, and External Attack Surface Management.

Furthermore, Group-IB’s full-cycle incident response and investigation capabilities have consistently elevated industry standards. This includes the 77,000+ hours of cybersecurity incident response completed by our sector-leading DFIR Laboratory, more than 1,400 successful investigations completed by the High-Tech Crime Investigations Department, and round-the-clock efforts of CERT-GIB.

Time and again, its solutions and services have been revered by leading advisory and analyst agencies such as Aite Novarica, Gartner®, Forrester, Frost & Sullivan, KuppingerCole Analysts AG, and more.

Being an active partner in global investigations, Group-IB collaborates with international law enforcement organizations such as INTERPOL, EUROPOL and AFRIPOL to create a safer cyberspace. Group-IB is also a member of the Europol European Cybercrime Centre’s (EC3) Advisory Group on Internet Security, which was created to foster closer cooperation between Europol and its leading non-law enforcement partners.